4. Presentation: A History of Sculpting the Columbia River Gorge, Water & Rivers, April 22

Join us for “Waters and Rivers – A History of Sculpting the Columbia River Gorge”, a presentation by locally renowned geologist, writer, and educator Ellen Morris Bishop on Friday, April 22, beginning at 6:30 PM at the White Salmon Library, 77 NE Wauna Ave White Salmon, WA. This free to the public talk is hosted by the Columbia Gorge Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute, and is part of the Wild About Nature program presented by Friends of the White Salmon River and coordinated by Joy Markgraf.

6. BLM Posters & Postcards

Portland, Ore. — The Bureau of Land Management’s Oregon/Washington State Office released a new vintage-style poster and postcards of Steens Mountain for Earth Day 2016. The posters and postcards will be available to the public at no cost from all BLM offices and public rooms throughout Oregon and Washington. “An area as special as southeast Oregon’s Steens Mountain deserves an equally special commemoration like this beautiful vintage poster. The Steens Mountain and its high desert surroundings is one of the crown jewels of Oregon wildlands. Conservation efforts here are an example of successful cooperative conservation efforts.” said acting Oregon/Washington BLM State Director Jamie Connell.

The Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area (CMPA) contains 428,156 acres of public land offering diverse scenic and recreational experiences. The CMPA encompasses an extraordinary landscape with deep glacier carved gorges, stunning scenery, wilderness, wild rivers, a rich diversity of plant and animal species, and a way of life for all who live there. The 52-mile Steens Mountain Backcountry Byway provides access to four campgrounds and the views from Kiger Gorge, East Rim, Big Indian Gorge, Wildhorse and Little Blitzen Gorge overlooks are spectacular! The United States Congress designated the Steens Mountain Wilderness in 2000 and it now has over 170,200 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Oregon and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. “The high Steens landscape reveals the dramatic effects of contrasting geologic forces — tectonic uplift and glaciation. The vintage Steens poster depicts the massive backdrop that compels us to play an active part in something much bigger than ourselves,” said Jerry Magee, Oregon/Washington BLM State Wilderness Lead. The Act also designated three new Wild and Scenic Rivers — Wildhorse Creek, Little Wildhorse Creek and Kiger Creek — and adds two new segments — Ankle Creek and Mud Creek — to the existing Donner und Blitzen Wild and Scenic River.

Also, the first ever Redband Trout Reserve has been created to improve stream health and fish habitat. The BLM’s National Conservation Lands encompass some of the most scenic, culturally rich and scientifically important public land in America. These lands include approximately 875 areas (more than 32 million acres) of National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and other federally-designated special places. The vintage poster and postcard series is being produced to raise awareness and encourage greater stewardship of our National Conservation Lands. Since 2014, the BLM has published 13 vintage posters. All the posters can be viewed at: www.flickr.com/photos/mypubliclands/sets/72157644226090865

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.

7. A Kaleidoscope of Color: American Indian Trade Blankets, July 16-Nov. 15

(GOLDENDALE, Wash., April 22, 2016) – A Kaleidoscope of Color: American Indian Trade Blankets will be on view at Maryhill Museum of Art July 16 – November 15, 2016. The exhibition will explore commercially produced trade blankets as an important facet of Indian culture, showcasing 20 pre-1925 blankets from well-known historic manufacturers such as Buell Manufacturing Company, J. Capps & Sons, Racine Woolen Mills, Oregon City Woolen Mills, and Pendleton Woolen Mills. The featured blankets are from private collections and offer a rare opportunity to see some of the most colorful items ever created by American industrial designers.

A Brief History of Trade Blankets.Historically, North America’s Native peoples fashioned warm wearing robes from woven cotton, yucca, feathers or rabbit skins, or from tanned elk and buffalo hide. Trade blankets made by outsiders first appeared on the continent in the 18th century, when the Hudson’s Bay Company imported English “point” blankets. From 1780 to 1890, these blankets were a staple of the fur trade, especially in Canada and the northern tier states.

During the same period, Navajo weavers were well known for their fine wearing blankets. But with the arrival of trading posts at the end of the 19th century, traders encouraged Navajo customers to focus on the production of rugs for sale to distant markets; this advice, coupled with reservation constraints that limited Native access to the materials needed to create their own blankets, Navajo weavers largely stopped making blankets. Enterprising American woolen mills saw an opportunity and began producing brightly-colored blankets with bold geometric designs for sale to the Native populace.These trade blankets soon became an important part of Native culture and for general household use.

Although Indian trade blankets are synonymous with 20th-century reservation style, manufacturers were dependent on sales to the non-Native population. Instead of transferring specific Native designs onto blankets, they created patterns that appealed to mainstream romantic stereotypes of Indian imagery and specific pattern names were assigned because of their lyrical quality rather than any relationship to objective origins. Trade blanket aficionados favor blankets made prior to 1942 – the year mills began manufacturing for the war effort. The majority of vintage robes still in circulation come from non-Native families as Indian people took great pride in their blankets and generally used them until they were worn out. Others were valued as burial attire and the practice of wrapping departed relatives in a new Pendleton blanket is still common in Navajo communities.